Risk of depression in patients with atopic dermatitis: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of children, adolescent and adult groups

Aim: Atopic dermatitis is a popular allergy disease among children, adolescents and adults. The risk of depression in patients with atopic dermatitis can be evaluated using an updated systemic review and meta-analysis of observational and cross-sectional studies. Methods: The log odds ratio (OR) was transformed using the OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess the risk of depression in patients with atopic dermatitis across the children, adolescent and adult groups. After a restricted selection, 39 studies of 234 306 patients with atopic dermatitis and 10 935 459 reference individuals were enrolled. The focused outcome was the OR and 95% CI of depression risk in each included study, assigned according to the age for the children, adolescent and adult groups. Results: In adult patients with atopic dermatitis, a significantly higher risk of depression was observed. In addition, the similar significantly higher risk of depression was observed in children and adolescent patients with atopic dermatitis, respectively. However, the significantly high heterogeneity was observed across children, adolescent and adult groups. Conclusions: In the current meta-analysis, the patients with atopic dermatitis had a higher risk of depression across the children, adolescent and adult groups, respectively. However, substantial heterogeneity should be considered during the interpretation of our meta-analysis results.